1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger and is specially suitable for use as an evaporator, condenser, etc. of a refrigerating cycle mounted on a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a prior-art heat exchanger used as a refrigerating-cycle condenser, evaporator, etc. mounted on a motor vehicle, a header section is located on one end of tubes forming refrigerant passages to change the configuration of a core to thereby allow easy installation of the heat exchanger in a narrow mounting space in an engine compartment. (Refer to Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Hei 3-56061.)
In the laminated-type heat exchanger where the tubes and fins are alternately laminated with this header disposed on one end side of the tubes, as shown in FIG. 11, a partition plate 202 is attached by brazing to one end face of the tube 201 inserted in a header 200, thus separating the interior of the header 200 into an inlet side and an outlet side. The other end side of the tube 201 is covered with a capsule 203, and is connected to each coolant passage 204 formed in the tube 201.
Therefore, in this laminated-type heat exchanger, if the brazing position of the partition plate 202 is changed, the inlet side and the outlet side are connected within the header, requiring a high brazing accuracy. It is, therefore, difficult to seal the inlet and outlet sides within the header 200.
Generally, a stocked plate type heat exchanger is adopted in which, with two plates facing each other, the tubes and the header are formed together.
In this drawn-cup type heat exchanger, however, since the tubes and the header are made of the same thickness, when this heat exchanger is used for example as a condenser in which a high-pressure coolant flows, and is produced on the basis of the compressive strength of the header, the plate thickness of the tubes increases, resulting in an increase in weight and cost.